On Sunday I attended my first wedding in Macedonia. It was the wedding of the computer teacher at my school, Vesna. She married the son of one of the 3rd grade teachers, Jovan. They met in high school and dated for 10 years. Looong relationships are very typical in Macedonia. Casual dating is not common here; neither is divorce. Once you decide that you are "in a serious relationship" with someone, it typically ends in marriage, even if that is years down the line.
There are many components to the wedding making it an all day event. First, it starts wthl celebrating in the home. The groom's friends and family go to the bride's house to "bring her to her new home" (normally after the wedding the bride goes to live in the same house as the groom's family). There is some traditional ceremonies and celebrations that happen in the bride's house; and then everyone goes to the groom's house. Traditional ceremonies and celebrations there are the same. I am sorry to say that I do not know what they are because I only attended the reception. After celebrating at the groom's house, it's off to the church. There they have a religious ceremony consisting of putting crowns on the bride's and groom's head. After the church ceremony, they head to the municipality (town hall) to sign the paper officially making them husband and wife. After all that there still is the reception.
The reception is probably the biggest part of the wedding and when I say big, I mean BIG. Over 650 people (yes, you are reading that number correctly) attended this reception. This couple attended alot of weddings and are well known in the town; so, of course, they had to invite alot of people to their wedding. The totally being over 650. Irena, Maria, and I met up with some of the other teachers outside of the big reception hall in Resen. I learned that the bride and groom stand at the entrance and take a picture with everyone that comes in. Here is our group shot.
The photography company prints out the pictures and puts them in a card along with the couple's wedding photo and sells them during the reception so everyone has a souvenir to remember the wedding.
After we congratulated the bride and groom and took our photo, we then congratulated the parents of the couple who were all standing inside the hall. I was told that the saying that the parents of the married couple tell the guests literally translated is "on your head" but means they wish good fortune and happiness for us. There were two tables for our school. All of the older people sat at one and then it was Irena, Maria, and I left at the other until....the lively group of teachers showed up.
Part of our table. Susan, who teaches at one of the village schools, me, Irena, Maria, Vesna, who teaches 5th grade and Lile, who teaches 2nd. The other teachers at the table included Petze, the very enthusiastic music teacher (he was behind the camera), and Betti, 3rd grade, and some of their spouses.
I had heard about Macedonian weddings and prepared myself before going, took a nap, and ate dinner because you might get dinner until midnight. But I was surprised that as soon as we sat down the waiters brought over the salads.
After about an hour, when all the guests had arrived, the bride and groom made their entrance and had their first dance. The Macedonians have adapted some of our western customs into their weddings/ceremonies, this being one of them. The rest of the evening was full of traditional Macedonian dancing (oro) and surprisingly a few modern songs as well ("Rollin on a river" and the tequila song). I was told today at school that the teachers were surprised and impressed by my Macedonian dancing skills. Over the past year it has improved and I now know a few other dances.
Dinner was traditional. You get a hamburger patty or a chicken breast, and they also served something that looked like a roast with veggies, potatoes, and rice. Along with all the soda, water, wine, and beer that you want. Later the waiters brought out the cake. Also a traditional cake that has layers of cake (with nuts) and layers of custard and frosting. After some more dancing, the bride and groom and their parents toasted with champagne and then it was time for the bride to cut the wedding cake. Yes we ate cake twice.
The wedding cake was located at the front of the room. It was a bunch of round cakes that were decorated with flowers. All of the young people, those not married, come up and the bride cuts a piece for them all. This represents passing the good fortune of marriage along. Then another western custom, the throwing of the bouquet. A gentleman caught it and started to run off with it. Then he remembered that he was already married; so he turned around and handed it to his best friend, a female who is not married. I got home around 1:30 am and had to be a school at 8 am the next day. When I arrived at school, Irena and Maria both looked tired but I was surprisingly peppy, but the lack of sleep hit me by the time I got home. All in all it was a wonderful wedding; and now I can say that I have attended a BIG Fat Macedonian Wedding!!!
There are many components to the wedding making it an all day event. First, it starts wthl celebrating in the home. The groom's friends and family go to the bride's house to "bring her to her new home" (normally after the wedding the bride goes to live in the same house as the groom's family). There is some traditional ceremonies and celebrations that happen in the bride's house; and then everyone goes to the groom's house. Traditional ceremonies and celebrations there are the same. I am sorry to say that I do not know what they are because I only attended the reception. After celebrating at the groom's house, it's off to the church. There they have a religious ceremony consisting of putting crowns on the bride's and groom's head. After the church ceremony, they head to the municipality (town hall) to sign the paper officially making them husband and wife. After all that there still is the reception.
The reception is probably the biggest part of the wedding and when I say big, I mean BIG. Over 650 people (yes, you are reading that number correctly) attended this reception. This couple attended alot of weddings and are well known in the town; so, of course, they had to invite alot of people to their wedding. The totally being over 650. Irena, Maria, and I met up with some of the other teachers outside of the big reception hall in Resen. I learned that the bride and groom stand at the entrance and take a picture with everyone that comes in. Here is our group shot.
I had heard about Macedonian weddings and prepared myself before going, took a nap, and ate dinner because you might get dinner until midnight. But I was surprised that as soon as we sat down the waiters brought over the salads.
After about an hour, when all the guests had arrived, the bride and groom made their entrance and had their first dance. The Macedonians have adapted some of our western customs into their weddings/ceremonies, this being one of them. The rest of the evening was full of traditional Macedonian dancing (oro) and surprisingly a few modern songs as well ("Rollin on a river" and the tequila song). I was told today at school that the teachers were surprised and impressed by my Macedonian dancing skills. Over the past year it has improved and I now know a few other dances.
Dinner was traditional. You get a hamburger patty or a chicken breast, and they also served something that looked like a roast with veggies, potatoes, and rice. Along with all the soda, water, wine, and beer that you want. Later the waiters brought out the cake. Also a traditional cake that has layers of cake (with nuts) and layers of custard and frosting. After some more dancing, the bride and groom and their parents toasted with champagne and then it was time for the bride to cut the wedding cake. Yes we ate cake twice.
The wedding cake was located at the front of the room. It was a bunch of round cakes that were decorated with flowers. All of the young people, those not married, come up and the bride cuts a piece for them all. This represents passing the good fortune of marriage along. Then another western custom, the throwing of the bouquet. A gentleman caught it and started to run off with it. Then he remembered that he was already married; so he turned around and handed it to his best friend, a female who is not married. I got home around 1:30 am and had to be a school at 8 am the next day. When I arrived at school, Irena and Maria both looked tired but I was surprisingly peppy, but the lack of sleep hit me by the time I got home. All in all it was a wonderful wedding; and now I can say that I have attended a BIG Fat Macedonian Wedding!!!
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